The rocky road to love
by englishrose05
Summary: A Daniel/Betty fic about Daniel's move to London and everything that happens in there changing relationship. Rating for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own ugly betty, if I did we wouldnt be left wondering what happened at THAT dinner!

A/N: This is my first ever fanfiction, let me know if you like it/what i should improve, if you want me to continue.

"_That's love right....when you know somebody better than they do and you would do anything in the world to protect them"_

The words kept repeating in his head, they were starting to send him slowly insane. She had been gone three weeks now, three long weeks he thought to himself, and he had not stopped thinking about her. He starred at the picture of the two of them from her sister's wedding, she looked so happy, her million dollar smile lighting up the picture, he didn't even have eye contact with the camera, so in awe of the beauty standing next to him making him only wanting to look at her. They looked like the perfect couple, except they weren't, she had left him and he had been too cowardly to stop her.

"_I think I have to let her go"_

His thoughts returned to the last moment he saw her. She still had that million dollar smile burning brightly and he didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't want her to leave, to see the disappointment in her eyes when he didn't approve of her move, he had seen that disappointed look so much over four years that he couldn't see it again. He had always told her that he would approve of her furthering her career, but not across an ocean, he needed her here...but that was too selfish to say to her, especially when he didn't even know why he wanted her to stay so badly.

Daniel snapped out of his daydreaming and looked down at his work but even that reminded him of her. She had helped him pick out his picture, in fact she had made him that man in the picture. He turned to the blank page; the new start for Mode magazine he thought.

"A new start for me" He stated out loud, shocking himself that he had finally made sense of it all. It had always been about her, and his future needed to have something to do with her too. With that he rushed to his mother's office and took arguably the greatest risk of his life.

"I'm leaving, giving control of Mode to Wilhemina" he stated in a matter of fact tone, not even his mother was going to change this decision.

"But what are you going to do Daniel?" She had a little smirk on her face, she already knew the answer to this question, she had seen this coming for weeks.

"I'm going to earn something on my own, something that I have wanted for years and have just been too stupid to see"

"Oh Daniel....I'm so happy for you, I knew my little theory was correct"

"Theory?" He stated confused.

"Yes, you're going after Betty aren't you?" His mother hoped he was, all the girls he had dated, including his late wife Molly, had come no-where near to Betty and she hoped that her son was finally seeing this.

"Well, i'm going to make a fresh start, away from this company and this name and that fresh start may just take me to London" He grinned, he didn't have to tell her that she was right, of course Betty was involved but he genuinely did want a new start away from the company that his father had handed to him. He was better than being born into a role and he just wanted to prove this to everyone. "I just hope that I haven't damaged things too much" He was worried that she wouldn't forgive him for not saying goodbye, he had replayed her voice message over and over again and noted the sadness in her voice, he caused that, he just hoped that he could repair it.

Claire got up from behind her desk, feeling that her son needed reassuring. "I have a feeling that everything will be alright Daniel and don't rush back on my account; I need to spend some quality time with Tyler, I mean after shooting Wilhemina, he deserves at least a little of my time." Both giggled as Daniel hugged his mother.

The next few days passed in a blur as the excitement grew. He booked his flight, gave Wilhemina the good news and said goodbye to those that had made his last four years so...well amazing. He couldn't have done it without any of them, but he needed to fight for the one that had been by his side every step of the way. On his way out, he caught a glimpse of blonde hair running from the desk of the new Creative director.

"God Amanda four years ago you would have been running away from my desk, but I _know_ you and Marc were not doing what we used to" he said laughing.

"Definitely not, I just needed to see him settled in his new office and make sure that he was not being too mean on his new assistant....but i'm glad I got to see you before you left"

"Amanda...." He went to tell her how amazing she was, how she would one day find her perfect man.

"Don't Daniel" she started emotionally, not wanting to hear Daniel tell her that her day would come and how they would never have worked. "I could see this coming, as much as I hate to admit it I was always jealous of Betty, I always wished that you would have looked at me the way you did her. I mean if you had at least once I would not be letting you get on this plane." Daniel blushed, how could she see what he couldn't. "But let me warn you Daniel, this is not going to be easy, she is not like any girl you have ever met, make sure you treat her right, she finally deserves it."

"I will and I will fight as hard as I have to for her"

"But if it doesn't work out, you still have my number right"

"Amanda" Daniel said half-sternly.

"I'm kidding...now get going you have a plane to catch." She laughed as she hugged him, knowing that once he admitted how he felt to Betty they would work it out and nothing would come between them.

Daniel finally boarded the plan after an emotional sending off from his mother and half-brother. As he sat waiting for the plane to take off, he remembered that first day four years ago when she walked into his office, he never imagined that he would fly half the world to tell "poncho" girl that he was falling for her.

Ok so this is it, let me know what you think. I think the next chapter will be Betty's POV.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't only anything Ugly Betty related!

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews of this chapter, I've decided to go ahead and have this chapter as Betty's POV of the last few weeks since she left Mode.

Three weeks. That's how long it had been since she had left New York, her family, Mode and him. She was of course following her dreams and she didn't regret it for one minute, she just had wobbles where she missed all of it and wished it wasn't such a long distance to go home. Not that she would see him, he hadn't even bothered to say goodbye to her, why would she go and say hello when she could be spending time with her family, people that cared about her. He....he was no longer in her life; she couldn't even say his name, let alone be in the same room as him.

She let out a sigh, she was sitting at her desk trying to concentrate on her work but she had been distracted by a package she had received. Hilda had sent her the photos she had ordered from the wedding photographer. She looked fondly at the one of her, Hilda, Bobby, Justin and Papi but emotions soon got the better of her as she flipped to the next one. It was of her and him dancing, the photographer had captured a moment between the two of them. She had ordered these photos before she left New York, hoping that this would be one of the ones she put on her new desk, the picture of her and her best friend laughing but now she wanted to burn it, throw it away, just like he had thrown away their friendship.

She thought back to that night when she left. Mrs Meade had told her of her _theory_, how Daniel couldn't say goodbye because she meant too much to him, that it hurt him too much to see her leave. But she couldn't believe this; she had to believe that he didn't care, that he didn't value her as a friend, and that he didn't want her in his life anymore. If she believed what Mrs Meade said she would drive herself crazy wondering what would have happened if she had stayed, wondering whether she felt the same and whether she had made a mistake in coming to London.

So she convinced that they were never _best friends_ like she thought. That they only shared a professional relationship and that she needed to build a new life in London and forget him. She had only been out in the city a few times, throwing herself into her work. Christina had come down for a few days to help her settle in and they had gone out together but she needed to find new friends, friends like Marc and Amanda. She laughed to herself when she realised how much she missed them, four years ago she would have never of said that. She needed to get back to dating. She needed to forget all the men that had messed her about and hope that she would have more success with British men. There were a few cute guys in her office; _no Betty you are the boss you cannot sleep with your staff, don't be like him,_ she thought scolding herself at the thought that she could start an office romance. She needed to meet a nice new guy that would sweep her off her feet and not disappoint her like Henry, Matt, Gio or him.

A knock on the door woke Betty from her endless day dreaming.

"Sorry to disturb you Ms. Suarez"

"Jake, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Betty, I may be your boss but I don't want you to think that you have to be all formal around me"

"Ok sorry Ms. Su...Betty. I just wondered if you had had a chance to go over my article yet, I wanted to know if I needed to make any changes"

"No...erm...sorry I have been erm busy" Betty replied guiltily, in reality she had been trying to mentally sort out the mess of the life she had left behind in New York.

"Oh ok, just let me know when you're ready with comments" Jake smiled at Betty; he went to leave but noticed how distracted she was, "I know it's not my place but is everything ok?" He was concerned, clearly she had been worrying about something and he knew that with her moving to another country she would not have many people to confide in.

"Oh it's nothing Jake" Betty went to shut him out but realised that maybe talking about it would help her. "Ok I mean it's something, it's just when I left America I left people behind, people who meant the world to me but people who clearly didn't think the same. I...I...I just need to let go and move on..." Betty realised how close she came to really opening up about the whole scenario but stopped suddenly, too scared of what would come out if she carried on "but I don't want to burden you with my long complicated story, when we have an issue to get out on the stands in two weeks." She smiled, hoping that he would drop the issue.

"Well if you ever do, maybe you could share it over a drink and maybe dinner" Jake smiled again, she hadn't noticed before what a warming smile he had.

Betty gave her mega watt smile back and with that Jake left her office before things got a little awkward.

_Was he just asking me out?_, Betty thought to herself. She dismissed it as she grabbed her pink coat and made her way to the meeting she had with potential advertisers at 3pm just outside Trafalgar Square. She needed to focus on this magazine for the time being and by doing that she hoped that she would be able to forget the sadness she felt over him and in time just forget him altogether.

However, fate (and Daniel Meade) had other ideas.

A/N: Please let me know what you think. Criticism is welcome as I want to improve.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing Ugly Betty related.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, please keep telling me what I need to improve! Also I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows this is a Detty story, however, I believe that Betty would not forgive Daniel straight away and that he would have to work hard to impress her, hence the little bit of drama to come in future chapters.

He could see her from a mile off and not just because of her love for bright coloured clothes. A smile came over him because he had finally found her. He had gone to her office looking for her, hoping to take her to lunch and explain all but she wasn't in. The receptionist was not much help in telling him her schedule so he had decided to turn on the Daniel Meade charm. The old Daniel would have forgotten what he was here for when she started flirting back, she was after all a very pretty girl, however, the new Daniel was focussed and determined to find out where Betty was. She had informed him that Betty would be in the area of Trafalgar Square around 3pm and that's how he found himself here.

Daniel glanced back to her, she looked amazing and something about her being on the other side of the world suited her because she was truly glowing. Daniel didn't realise that he was holding his breath as she walked towards him. All the words that he had thought about on the plane disappeared from his head, his palms started to sweat but he hadn't travelled half the world to blow this moment now.

"_Betty?" _Daniel asked nervously, hoping that she wouldn't run away from him.

"_Oh Sorry...." _Betty answered politely, looking up at the man that she had just walked in to. "_Daniel?" _

Betty hung up the phone without a care to the person on the other end. She couldn't believe it was actually him standing in front of her. How did he find her? Obviously he knew she was in London but London was a big city and it didn't seem like an accident that she was now standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here Daniel?" Betty couldn't work out why he would want to find her, he didn't want to say goodbye in New York, why would he want to say anything to her in London.

"Can we just sit and talk" He motioned for Betty to go and sit on the stairs.

"Ok but I only have a few minutes I have a meeting to attend"

Daniel and Betty walked to the stairs, an awkward silence hanging over them. Daniel just looked at her, wanting to take in her beauty, however, his constant starring was making Betty uncomfortable, yet she felt something else too. There was an intensity in Daniel's eyes and butterflies were starting to form in Betty's stomach.

"Seriously Daniel why are you here?" Betty sounded a little angrier than she meant to, however, she couldn't stand to sit and wait for the apology that wasn't coming, from a man that had meant the world to her, especially when he was starting to melt her exterior with his eyes and smile.

"I've left Mode." That's all Daniel could think of. He knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear, it wasn't the apology that he wanted to give her but all of sudden with her sitting in front of him he couldn't find the words to tell her how he truly felt.

"You've left Mode?" Betty was curious to find out why but also couldn't believe that there was no apology and that he had found her to talk about him and his career. _"So was that hard for you?" _Betty wasn't going to force him to make an apology but there was something in those deep blue eyes that made her want to listen to him.

"_Not really. Oh...just...I realised I've just had everything handed to me, I've never really gotten anything on my own, like...like you" _Daniel stuttered, he knew that he was going to have to get to the point of him being her sooner rather than later, right now it seemed that he wanted her help on his career, something which he knew she wouldn't find charming.

"_Well....I know there's a lot you can do Daniel."_ Betty couldn't help herself, she naturally fell into her role of picking him up when he looked down and something was clearly bothering him.

"_Thank you" _Daniel realised that now was the moment, if he didn't say what he needed to now he would have wasted his journey and her time._ "and I also realised I didn't say goodbye, which is really not cool, so goodbye and good luck and have a safe flight." _Daniel tried to joke a little, hoping that it would cover over his nerves.

"_Thank you, I'll call you when I get there" _Betty joked back. His apology was all that Betty needed to know that he cared and that he realised his mistakes. She gave him a warm smile. _"So that's it, you're heading back to New York?" _Betty couldn't understand why but there was something inside her hoping that he was at least staying in London for a few days. Despite what she had told herself she had missed him, missed them and the way he had looked at her made her want him around.

"_No, I think I'm gonna stay around here for a while, see what I can find." _He watched Betty's reaction, hoping that she would at least force a smile. She did although it wasn't forced, she seemed genuinely happy to have him around._ "Maybe take you to dinner....tonight, if you're free?"_ Daniel knew that he was pushing his luck but also realised that he had a lot of making up to do to her if this friendship was to go any further.

"_I would love that" _She felt herself get excited, only a few minutes ago was she reluctant to give him a chance believing that his visit was all about him and now she was going to dinner and feeling a little nervous around the man she once called her boss and best friend, all because of those deep blue eyes. The ring of Big Ben brought Betty back down to earth. _"Well I better get back to work" _She stood and hugged him, feeling that it was the natural thing to do._ "I'm really glad you're here" _she couldn't help herself it was true that she was looking forward to having him around.

"_I'll call you later" _Daniel was glad how well things had gone between the two she seemed sincere when she hugged him and told him that he was glad he was here. Even if nothing more was to come he was glad that he had made amends with his best friend.

"_Great." _She started to walk away but had the natural instinct to start joking with him._ "Hey if you want something to do I am looking for a new assistant"_

"_Well maybe I will submit my résumé" _And with that she started to walk into the crowd but Daniel didn't move until she was fully out of sight. Daniel then sat back down and just went over the conversation in his head, a constant smile etched on his face.

Betty was distracted in her meeting. Although it went well she didn't really take much in, he was all she could think about. She seemed happy to have him back in her life and towards the end of their brief encounter things seemed to be getting back to normal and now she was excited about dinner and spending more time with him. However she couldn't work out why she was nervous. She had had dinner on so many occasions with Daniel; at her house, at his house, in restaurants, the office, the list was endless, so why did she have butterflies in her stomach, it just didn't make sense.

She had now returned to her office and bumped into Jake on her way to her desk.

"Well someone seems a little happier?" Jake commented, noticing that Betty couldn't stop smiling, not that he was complaining she did have an amazing smile. "The meeting must have gone well?"

"No, well yeah it did but that's not why I'm smiling" Jake looked at Betty and she realised that she would have to explain her cryptic message. "I bumped into that someone from home who I thought didn't care and who came half way across the world to apologise and take me for dinner." Betty smiled more at the thought of the gesture Daniel had made.

"Ahh well that's nice" Jake said a little upset that she was going for dinner and it wasn't with him "but make sure you find out the real reason why he's here and don't forget what he's done to you. Anyway I will catch you later." Jake smiled hoping that he had sewn a seed of doubt in Betty's mind about her mysterious mans intentions.

Betty finally got back to her desk and replayed in her head what Jake had said. He was right. Daniel hadn't actually given her the real reason why he was here. He could have picked up the phone and apologised to her, even sent her an email he had not needed to travel half the world to say sorry. Was this dinner going to be all about him? Did he want her help in trying to find him a new career and then he would just disappear leaving Betty once again feeling used and alone? Betty was distracted from her thoughts by her phone ringing.

"Hello?" Betty didn't recognise the number.

"Hey Betty" Daniel she thought, he had told her that he was going to ring later but with her current thoughts she didn't feel so comfortable speaking to him. "Just checking that you are still up for dinner?"

"Erm...well I do have a lot of work to do" Betty said trying to make excuses without making it obvious that she was now reluctant to go, what Jake had said had really got to her.

"Come on Betty you can make an exception tonight, I'm paying" Daniel could sense her change of tone and didn't understand what had happened since there meeting this afternoon and now.

"Ok but I can't stay out late I have a big meeting tomorrow"

"Great, well if you tell me where you're staying I can pick you up?" Daniel was not concerned that she didn't want to stay out late, it was Betty after all. He was just glad that he would get a few hours to try and see if there was a future for the two of them.

"No that is alright just tell me the restaurant and I will meet you there?"

"Erm well I booked us a table for two at the Ritz for 8" Daniel was disappointed that Betty did not want him to pick her up, he was starting to get the impression that she didn't want to come.

"Daniel that's a little fancy" Betty knew that he could afford a place like that but it wasn't the type of place that they would usually dine together.

"Betty if you don't want to come I can just cancel it"

"No Daniel, I do...it's just..."

"What's wrong Betty? You seemed so happy to see me earlier"

Betty thought about what Jake had said but couldn't tell Daniel that she was worried he was going to leave her again, it's not as if she even knew why him leaving her bothered her so much. "It's nothing I'll see you there at 8. I've got to go Daniel my office phone is ringing, bye."

Daniel knew Betty was lying, he hadn't heard her office phone in the background. He knew he needed to impress her tonight if they were to have any chance of a future together, this was arguably going to be the hardest date well dinner, he hadn't actually told her that he thought of this as a date but he hoped that she would see him in a new light at the end of it.


End file.
